New Line to Make "Conan the Barbarian"

Weeks after Warner Bros lost the rights to "Conan the Barbarian," New Line has moved into prime position to make a movie based on Robert E Howard's mythical conqueror. Strong interest in "Conan" was attributed to the strong showing of the action film "300."

Reinventing Conan didn't come easy for WB, which spent the last seven years trying for a film that veered from the testosterone-laced beefcake fests that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger to something more reverential toward Howard's original pulp novels.

Warners had a spring deadline to be in production but balked because it didn't have a script in which it was confident. Paradox, which had extended its original option agreement three times, declined another extension.

If New Line makes the deal, the studio will have to start from scratch, as Warners owns the various drafts it developed.